1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic apparatus, an information processing system, and an information processing method.
2. Description of the Related Art
In conventional techniques, there is an image forming apparatus on which browser software is installed for displaying HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) data obtained from a network or from the inside of the apparatus as an operation screen of the image forming apparatus. In various kinds of browser software, there is browser software that can not only display the screen but also execute apparatus control by interpreting a script that is extended for apparatus control. According to such browser software, it is possible to provide a browser-based API (Application Program Interface) such as a script for customization (refer, for example, to JP2006-352845).
For example, third-party vendors develop a Web application for providing the function via a Web page displayed on browser software, so that the third-party vendors can provide services that can use hardware resources of the image forming apparatus via the Web application.
However, in conventional techniques, billing for use of an electronic apparatus, that is an image forming apparatus, for example, is performed with respect to execution of functions, provided by the electronic apparatus itself, such as scanning, printing, FAX transmission and the like. Thus, although billing can be performed for the functions of the electronic apparatus that are executed based on scripts described in the Web page provided by the Web application, billing for use of the Web application itself cannot be performed. As a result, there is a problem in that it is difficult to distribute appropriate profits to a developer of the Web application, a developer of the browser software and the like. This problem similarly applies to various situations in which applications on the network are used in a so-called cloud environment in recent years.